The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation
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Abstract
Addressing urgent conservation issues, such as the drastic declines of North American migratory birds, requires creative, evidence-based, efficient, and collaborative approaches. The abundance of over 50% of monitored North American shorebird populations has declined by over 50% since 1980. To address these declines, we developed a partnership of scientists and practitioners called the Shorebird Science and Conservation Collective (hereafter the collective). The collective was founded to translate the combined findings of shorebird tracking data into on-the-ground conservation action. With advice from an advisory group, the collective acts as an intermediary whereby dedicated staff collate and analyze data contributions from scientists to support knowledge requests from conservation practitioners. In its first three years, data contributions from 75 organizations include over 7.1 million shorebird observations forming movement paths of 3420 individuals representing 36 species tracked across the Americas and have informed 18 conservation projects spanning education, land and species management, land conservation, and policy requests. Others engaged in translational science from big data could consider similar knowledge-sharing models that prioritize usable data products, foster collaborative engagement between science experts and practitioners, build focused communities around topics or taxonomic groups, and employ a proof-of-concept phase to develop scalable solutions while making progress toward long-term funding to sustain impact. As the volume of scientific data continues to grow, intermediaries, such as the collective, can be vital liaisons to rapidly integrate and interpret research to support conservation action. Dedicated to the memory of Shiloh Schulte and his conservation achievements for shorebirds.
Suggested Citation
Harrison, A., Stenzel, C., Anderson, A., Howell, J., Lanctot, R.B., Aikens, M., Aldabe, J., Berigan, L., Bêty, J., Blomberg, E., Bosi de Almeida, J., Boyce, A.J., Bradley, D.W., Brown, S.C., Carlisle, J.D., Cheskey, E., Christie, K., Christin, S., Clay, R., Dayer, A.A., Deppe, J.L., English, W.B., Flemming, S.A., Gilg, O., Gilroy, C., Heath, S., Hill, J.M., Hipfner, J.M., Johnson, J.A., Johnson, L., Kempenaers, B., Knaga, P., Kwon, E., Lagassé, B.J., Lamarre, J., Latty, C., Léandri-Breton, D., Lecomte, N., Loring, P., McDuffie, L.A., McGuire, R., Moorhead, S., Navedo, J.G., Newstead, D., Nol, E., Olalla-Kerstupp, A., Olson, B., Olson, E., Paquet, J., Pierce, A.K., Rausch, J., Regan, K., Reiter, M.E., Roth, A.M., Russell, M., Ruthrauff, D.R., Saalfeld, S.T., Scarpignato, A.L., Schulte, S., Senner, N.R., Smith, J.A., Smith, P.A., Spector, Z., Srigley Werner, K., Stantial, M.L., Taylor, A.R., Tibbitts, T., Valcu, M., Warnock, N., Wehtje, W., Winn, B., and Wunder, M.B., 2026, The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation: Conservation Biology, e70194, 17 p., https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.70194.
| Publication type | Article |
|---|---|
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Title | The collective application of shorebird tracking data to conservation |
| Series title | Conservation Biology |
| DOI | 10.1111/cobi.70194 |
| Edition | Online First |
| Publication Date | March 23, 2026 |
| Year Published | 2026 |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Society for Conservation Biology |
| Contributing office(s) | Alaska Science Center Ecosystems |
| Description | e70194, 17 p. |